How to tell the time at nightThis can be quite useful even without the elaborate procedure: 1. Notice the orientation of the big dipper at some reference time; 2. Remember that it takes 24 hours to go through a full rotation.

What clothing would be appropriate for hiking in -18°C with up to 30 km/hr wind?The weather on the hike turned out to be much better than forecast; in particular: sunny and no wind. Two observations: 1) The down jacket quickly became much too warm to hike in and was awkwardly bulky to stow (but was wonderfully nice and cozy for breaks); 2) It turns out that my boots were terrible for walking on compacted snow. These boots are wonderful otherwise; I think the problem is that the tread has been worn away over the years and they need to be re-soled. So I would add: check boot traction on various surfaces, and/or bring traction-enhancing devices for compacted snow/ice.